Article cleaning mechanism



'Dec- 1951 o. c. NIEDERER ETAL 2, ,603

ARTICLE CLEANING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-5heet 1 Filed Feb. 18, 1949 R E s R RR E mfimww EE E V EN N mwo R N r m 7 mg A 77E oo n Y I B n 4 7 EN 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 18, 1949 III III III 1 e E .S m, mi N mmmm Y 4' N /M.\ W. M MK MN R 1 wwm m H chm r w w mmm A H W ww w A v w Dec. 25, 1951 O c MEDERER r 2,579,603

ARTICLE CLEANING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 18, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig 7. I

@X' /EZ4 M2 N /E DERER N/ IEDERER INVENTORS 0770 0. BY orro 505/?52 HERBERT 0./v

W: ATTORNEY F] g E Patented Dec. 25, 1951 ARTICLE CLEANING MECHANISM Otto-C. Niederer, Otto Niederer,..an-d: Herbert 0.. Niederer, Titusville, N. J;

Application February 18, 1949, Serial No. 77,096

18 Claims.

Our invention relates to methods and means for cleaning, abrading; brushing, polishing or similarly treating rounded articles and while our invention is of general application, it is particularly adapted for main cleaning eggs.

Many eggs when collected by poultrymen or farmers are soiled or stained and therefore are unattractive in appearance and cannot be marketed to advantage until they are cleaned. However, the operation of cleaning eggs by hand is tediousand the large number of eggs that require cleaning frequently renders manual. cleaning. un-. economical. On the other hand, the irregularity in size and shape of eggs and the varyin texture anct'condition of egg shells does not permit them tobeoleanedreadily or safely by crdinarybrushing orabradin devices, whereas egg washing operations have been known to cause eggs tor-t or spoil within a few days.

In accordance with our invention these problems are overcome by providing mechanism wherebyeggs and other articles may be brushed, abraded; polished or-otherWise-treated by the action of flexible abrading means which are brought into contact with all points on the surface of the articlesso as to clean the article without injury thereto. Moreover, the" eggs or other articles to becleaned are presented to the abrading members in. such a Way that different sizes of eggs may be cleaned simultaneously and they may be supplied to, and removed from the mechanism Qqntinuously so that repeated or individua'lihandling of the eggsis not necessary.

Oneofthe objects of our invention is to reduce the cost and increase the speed with which eggs or other rounded articles may becleaned.

Another object of our invention is to provide mechanismwhereby eggs and similar articles may be continuously and automatically supplied to and. removed from yieldable abrading members.

Another object of our invention is to provide novelmeans for manipulating or moving eggs or rounded articles during a cleaning operation.

Another object of our invention is to provide eggcleaning mechanism wherein eggs of different size may be. simultaneously and successively cleaned Without interruption or alteration of the mechanism employed.

These and. other objects and features of our invention. willappear from the followin description thereof in which reference is made to the figuresof the accompanying drawings.-

Fig; 1 is a, vertical sectional view of typical form of mechanism embodying. our invention.

. 2 Fig; 2 is a plan view of the construction :il1ustrated in Fig. l.

Fig. 3" is a vertical sectional view of the con struction shown in Fig. 1 taken on the line 33.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the construction. shown in Figs. I to 3 with the abrading means removed.

Fig; 5 is an enlarged view of a detail of the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 4.

Fig; dis a diagrammatic illustration of typical drive meansfor themechanism shown in Figs; '1 i205.

' Fig. Tie a diagrammatic side elevation ofan alternative form of mechanism embodying our invention;

Fig: 8 i's a vertical sectional view through a portion of the'mechanism. showingran alternative type of'actuating means for. the egg supporting members.

Fig. 9 is an. end view. of the egg supporting members with parts of' the mechanism shownin section, and

Fig. 10 is an enlarged view of a detail. of con: struction of an alternative. form of'egg engaging member;

In". that. form. of: our invention illustrated: in Figs:. 1 to: 6; of the: drawing; the mechanism. is mounted on alsupport 2 which carries; a motor: 4 for: driving the' various elements: of the device; A: pair ofparallel article moving" belts B extend longitudinally of the support 2 and; pass about the: pulleys: 8" and I0; mounted on the1 rotatable shafts: l2 and M respectively. Article: holding bars: I6 and spacing bars 18 are secured atltheiropposite ends to. thebelts- 6 and extend transversely across the machine beneath the lower runs 20 of afiexible abradin or cleaning means 22. The holding bars Is and spacing bars |8are spaced apart longitudinally of the belts 6 a distance sunicient to permit eggs. or other articles to be. cleanedor abraded to be carried longitudie nally: through the. mechanism and to; be: tilted; oscillated.- or moved about during their travel: without. interfering with the movement ofother; ar-ticlespreceding or following each other through the mechanism.

The eggs or other articles to be cleaned are supplied to the article movingv means,v including. thebeltsfirandthe bars;- IBland i8; at the delivery end 24;. of the mechanism. where: a pair of. i.n:-= clinedtracks ZG arejarrangedfor receiving anumzber of, eggstoieed themoneafter another to. the article, moving means. Any numberof pairs of; tracks 26, may be provided depending upon thecanacity of? the; mechanism. dsired, but. for pure nos srofi'iliustration two pairs of tracks: 26. are;

shown. The eggs placed on these tracks roll down the same until they engage a stop member 28 carried by a rod 30. A weighted trip 32 is mounted on the end of the rod 30 and positioned adjacent the outer face of the pulley 8 so that it will be engaged by the projecting end 34 of each of the egg holding bars 56 in turn as they are moved with the belts 6 in advancing the eggs through the mechanism. The trip 32 is raised by the projection 34 as the bar l6 moves beyond the next egg to be cleaned and the bar l8 moves into position to engage the foremost eggs on tracks 26 on release thereof. The projection 34 thus rotates rod 30 to move the stops 28 out of the way of the eggs on tracks 26 and the foremost eggs then roll forward into contact with the cushioned abutment member 36 and into position to be engaged by the spacing bar [8.

The belts E and bars I6 and [8 as well as the pulleys 8 are rotated in a clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 1 and the bars [6 and [8 therefore are moved upward as the upper runs of the belts 6 advance. The spacer bar H3 at the rear of the egg holding bar I6 then engages the eggs contacting the abutment member 36 and serve to raise and carry the eggs along through the mechanism beneath the lower run of the abraiding means 22. jection 34 passes beyond the trip 38 so that the trip is released to fall back to a lowered position. In so doing the rod is rotated to move the stop members into position to prevent the eggs from rolling forward so as to interfere with movement of the eggs by the bars I6 and I8. In this way the eggs are supplied successively to the mechanism and the foremost eggs from each track are picked up and advanced through the machine. At the same time the eggs, are held in'longitudinally spaced relation as they pass through the mechanism so as to be independently acted upon by the abraiding or cleaning means employed.

The abraiding means illustrated is in the form of a continuous length of flexible tape having grit or other abrading material carried by the face 38 thereof which contacts the articles 40 to be cleaned, polished or otherwise treated. The tape shown extends about the flanged pulleys 42 near the receivin end of the mechanism and about similar flanged pulleys 44 near the discharge end of the mechanism. The pulleys 42 and 44 are mounted for rotation with shafts 46 and 48 respectively and in practice the shafts 46 and 48 are sometimes machined to form the flanges of the pulleys integral therewith as a unit. When cleaning eggs the pulleys 42 and 44 are preferably positioned so that the lower runs 49 of the tape will extend longitudinally of the mechanism and be held in parallel relation. The upper runs 50 of the tape then extend diagonally as shown in Fig. 2 so as to be inclined the width of one pulley so that in passing continuously. about the pulleys there is no tendency for the abrading means to thrust the articles diagonally or transversely of the machine. The surfaces of the pulleys 42 and 44 are preferably rounded or tapered slightly so as to center the tape and overcome the tendency of the tapes to slip sideways on the pulleys due to their angular relation with respect to the pulley shafts. The outermost strand of the tape on leaving the last flanged pulley of the delivery end of the mechanism extends upward to a roller 52, thence across the upper runs 50 as shown at '54 to a roller 56 on the opposite side of the At the same time the promechanism and then returns to the first flanged pulley on the opposite side of the mechanism at the receiving end thereof.

In this way a single continuous band, tape or strand of flexible material may be employed for cleaning or otherwise treating the articles, and the lower runs 26 of the abrading means may be caused to travel in parallel paths longitudinally of the mechanism. In the preferred operations, when cleaning eggs, the lower runs 20 all travel from the receiving end toward the discharge end of the mechanism at the same speed and in a direction parallel to the path of travel of the eggs so that the action of the tape or abrading-means does not. cause the eg s to be so displaced as to break or crack the shells. The construction shown and described also serves to maintain all of the strands engaging the articles under substantially the same tension so that there is no materially greater or different effect produced upon one part or in one area of the article being cleaned than in another. Uniform cleaning or treatment of the articles is thus assured. The tension applied to the strands as a Whole may be controlled and maintained constant during any operation by mounting the rollers 52 and 56 on an arm 58 pivotally carried by the support 2 so as to be urged against the tape 54 by means of a spring 60 or other tensioning means.

A further advantage of the arrangement of the abrading means described results from the self threading character thereof when a change or replacement of the abrading means is necessary or desirable. At such times the tape is severed and an end of the new tape is attached to the end of the old tape. Thereafter, on operating the mechanism, the new tape is automatically drawn after the old one and threaded back and forth about the flanged pulleys 42 and 44 until the leading end of the new tape is brought back to its starting point. The ends of the new tape are then joined and the mechanism is immedi-- ately ready for renewed operation.

In order to insure cleaning, abrasion, brushing, polishing or other treatment of rounded articles throughout the entire surface thereof, and even when the articles are of irregular rounded shape, means are provided for tilting, oscillating or otherwise displacing the articles as they are moved lengthwise of the mechanism by the bars i6 and I8, and while they are in contact with the lower runs 29 of the flexible abrading means. For this purpose article supporting members 62, 64 and 66 are located below the article moving bars i5 and are arranged to cause the eggs or articles to be tilted laterally as they move from the receiving end of the mechanism to the delivery end thereof. The upper surfacesof the supporting members are cushioned and may be roughened or corrugated so as to present a nonslip surface which will prevent the eggs from rotating freely under the action of the abrading means. The eggs are positively tilted by relative vertical movement of the supporting members. For this purpose the members 62, 64- and 66 are each pivotally connected at 68 to the upper ends of the rocker arms 10. The lower ends of the rocker arms are pivotally connected to the cross rod 12 and eccentrics l4, l5 and 18 engage the rocker arms associated with the supporting members 62, 64 and 66 respectively. The eccentrics are secured to the rotatable shaft and in practice the adjacent eccentrics are similarin form but displaced on the shaft 80 so that movement of the eggs. sleeves are rotatable by the eggs so that the bars adjacentsupporting members will 'be moved in opposite relation. With this construction the supporting members cooperate to form tracks upon which the eggs are supported near their opposite ends.

However, on rotationof the shaft 80 one supportingmember is raised while the adjacent supporting member is lowered sothat the eggs will be-rockedback and forth as shown in Fig.'5. The

thereby presenting first one end and then the other end of the eggs to the action of the flexible strands forming the lower runs of the abradmeans. The rapidity of oscillation on rockingof the eggs may be varied considerably, but should be such as 'toassure effective cleaning of both ends of the eggs throughout the circum- *ference thereof during a single passage through the mechanism from the delivery end to-the discharge end.

'The eggs are rolled forward on the supporting members by the forwardly moving lower runs of the abrading means but are held in predetermined position by the article holding bars I6.

In'order to facilitate transverse rocking or movement of the eggs while engaging the egg holding bars I6, these bars are provided with sleeves 82 which are spaced apartat their ends so that they may slide back and forth along the bars I6 and transversely of the mechanism with the tilting At the same time the IB present cushioned surfaces 84 which are freely movable with the eggs and impose no restriction to the movement thereof except in a longitudinal direction.

As the eggs approach the discharge end 86 of the mechanism, the holding bars I6 and spacing, bars I8 move downward away from the abrading means as the belts 6 travel about the pulleys I0.

The eggs are thus lowered into contact with the cushioneddefiector 81 and roll on the holding bar I6 onto the tray 88. The opposite ends of the supporting members 62, 64 and B6 are preferably inclined downward asshown at 90 so as to. provide for gradual movement of the eggs into and I out of contact with the abrading means.

The operation of the mechanism shown in 'Figs. l to 6 and described above is as follows:

Eggs to be cleaned are charged onto the inclined tracks 26 and move forward by gravity into contact with the stop members 28 on the rod 30. Theyare preferably arranged so that the long axes of the eggs are parallel and therefore roll forward easily. The belts 6 are driven by motor 4 through shaft I2 and are moved so that the projecting end 34 of the egg holding bar engages and raises the trip 32 on bar 30. The

stop members 28 are thus raised to permit the foremost eggs on the tracks 26 to roll forward andengage the abutment member 36. The stop member then drops back on release of the trip 32 to prevent other eggs on the tracks 26 from interfering with the operation of the mechanism. Theeggs which have been released by the stop members are'engaged and picked up by the spacing bars I8 and raised over the inclined ends v 90 of the supporting members 62, 64 and 6-6 into "positions behind the egg holding bars I6 and beneath the lower runs 20 of the abrading means.

The lower runs of the abrading means travel in -a direction from the receiving end to the deliveryendofthe mechanism and engage the eggs so as to roll them forward into contactwith the cushioned sleeves 82 on the article holding bars IS. The eggs passing through the mechanism are thus held in longitudinallyspaced relation permitting the flexible strands of the abrading means to engage each egg without being appreciably or materially deflected by a preceding =01 terial on the lower face of the strands. At the same time free rotation of the eggs with the lower runs 20 is prevented by the cushioned upper surface of the supporting membersalong which the eggs roll. The abrasive material therefore brushes lightly over the relatively slow movingupwardly facing surfaces of the egg so as to clean the eggs effectively without danger or injurythereto. As shown in Fig. 5 the strands of abrasive material are positioned closely adjacent each other and are relatively narrow as compared with the length of the eggs. Therefore at least three strands engage the eggs at all times and they conform readily to theshape of theeggs in all positions during oscillation of the eggs.

During longitudinal movement of the eggs the supporting members 62, 54 andtt are raisedand lowered to tilt the eggs so that first one end and then the other end of each egg is presentedto the abrading means insuring cleaning of the entire surface of each egg. When fully cleaned the eggs are discharged from the delivery end of the mechanism onto the tray-88 where they may be further inspectedifdesired and are presented ready for packing.

In thealternative form of the present invention shown in Figs. 7 to 10 of the drawing, the general assembly and organization of the elements is similar to that shown in Figs. lto 6. That is, the eggs to be cleaned are fed in at the inlet end of the mechanism and are moved over oscillating supports beneath and in contact with the moving abrading bands and are discharged from the outlet end of the mechanism. However many features of the construction illustrated in Figs. 7 to 10 differ from those in Figs. 1 to 6.

'As shown in Fig. 7 the motor for actuating the mechanism is mounted onframe I02 and is connected to a pulley 42' by the belt I04. The pulley 42' is engaged by the abrasive tape 22' whichexten'ds in a plurality of passes from the pulley 42 to the pulley44. The latter pulley is provided with a pinion I06 which drives a train of gears including the gear-IIJ8 and the gear I It.

Gear I 08 is provided with four holes II2 which are spaced different radial distances from the center of the gear and -a pin II is inserted *in a selected one of the holes H2 and connectedto oneend of the'link I I6. The opposite end of" the link I I6 is connected to a bar I I8 attachedtothe free-ends of the two rocker arms I20. The rocker arms are attached to shafts I22 and 123 which extend transversely of the mechanism beneath thesupporting members over which the eggs are moved.

Each of the shafts I22 and I23 is provided with arms I24 which are inclined to one side of avertical plane passing through the shaft. Similarly arms I25 are secured to the shafts I22 and I23 and inclined to the opposite side of said plane. Rollers I26 are carried by the arms I24 and I25 and are positioned to' bear against the lowersurfaces of longitudinally extending bars I 28- of egg supporting members" I29. "The. arms I24 on shafts I22 and I2 3 are in alignment lengthwise of the mechanism and the rollers I26 thereof engage opposite end portions of the same bar I28. In a like manner the arms I25 are in alignment and bear against the lower surfaces of the bars I28 of adjacent egg supporting members.

With this construction rotation of the gear I08 serves to actuate the link II6 to reciprocate rod IIB which in turn causes the rocker arms I25 to oscillate. The rocker arms when actuated cause the shafts I22 and I23 to rock back and forth whereby the oscillating arms I24 and I25 are moved through arcs which serve to raise and lower the egg supporting member. Because of the opposite inclination of the arms I24 and I25, adjacent egg supporting members are caused to move in opposite directions. Thus as one egg supporting member is raised those members on opposite sides thereof are lowered and thereafter when the first member is lowered the adjacent egg supporting members are raised. Egg engaging adjacent members I29 are thereby tilted back and forth transversely of the mechanism so that each end of every eggis presented to the flexible abrasive bands for cleaning as the eggs are carried longitudinally of the mechanism by the egg holding bars I6.

The are through which the rocker arms and oscillating arms I24 and I25 are moved and the distance that the egg supporting members are raised and lowered is determined by the position of the pin I I4 with respect to the axis of the gear I08. By moving the pin II4 from one hole II2 to another the amplitude of movement of the rocker arms I and oscillating arms I24 and I may be varied so that the egg supporting members may be raised and lowered through the desired distance to insure proper tilting and cleaning of the eggs.

The egg supporting members as shown in Figs. 8 and 9 consist of the flexible cushioning members I30 which are preferably formed of rubber and provided with longitudinally extending ribs or ridges I32 which serve to engage and hold the eggs in a manner which prevents free rotation or spinning of the eggs under the action of the abrasive bands engaging the upper portions of the eggs. The cushioning members I30 are sufficiently flexible so that they bend readily beneath the eggs as shown in Fig. 9 and yieldably urge the eggs upward against the flexible strips of abrasive material. The eggs are thus lightly but firmly held on a cushioned support which allows movement of the eggs without permitting them to bounce or have free movement at any time during the cleaning operation.

The bar I28 of the egg moving members is provided with a vertically extending tubular member I34 adjacent each end thereof. The tubular members I34 receive pins I36 which project upwardly from the transverse stationary supports I38. Therefore when the oscillating arms I24 and I25 are rocked, the egg supporting members are moved vertically but are held against longitudinal movement and therefore do not influence or affect the forward movement or rotation of the eggs as they travel over the cushioning members I30.

The eggs are moved longitudinally of the egg supporting members by rotation of the gear Iii! which drives the belt 6 carrying the egg holding bars I6 and the spacing bars I8.

As shown in Fig. 10 the bars l6 and I8 are provided with flat egg engaging members I40.

The members I40 engage the eggs being'moved through the mechanism and in this respect replace the rotatable collars 82 carried by the;holding bars I6 of the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 6. It is found in practice that by using such flat egg engaging members the eggs are allowed to oscillate freely regardless of the size of the egg and there is no danger of even a large egg being carried over the holding bar I6 as it oscillates and rotates during the cleaning operation. The vertical width of the engaging members I40 is preferably as great as possible without interfering with the movement of the egg supporting members and abrasive bands.

The manner of operation and movement of the elements of the mechanism shown in Figs. flto 10 will be apparent from the foregoing discussion of the operation of the device shown in Figs. 1 to 6. It will also be apparent that one or more of the alternative elements 'shown'in Figs. '7 to 10 may be embodied in the construction of Figs. 1 to 6. Thus for example the egg supporting members of the construction shown in Fig. 1 may be replaced by the egg supporting member I32 and the oscillating means therefor shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

The speed of movement of the various elements of the mechanism may be altered as desired to obtain the best results, butwhenlcleaning eggs it is generally preferable to avoid polishing the surfaces in order that the eggs Will present a natural dull appearance. The speed of travel of the lower runs of the abrasive tape may be from about 350 to 800 feet per minute but higher or lower speeds may be used. Similarly,' the speed of travel of the eggs through the mechanism and the rapidity with which they are tilted may be varied but in practice the eggs usually are submitted to an abrading operation lasting from about 20 seconds to one minute.

The treatment of the e gs is so gentle that even cracked eggs have been cleaned successfully, but the mechanism may be adjusted and the type of abrading means employed may be varied so as to give more vigorous treatment to articles for brushing, polishing orcleaning purposes. In view thereof it should be understood that the construction and arrangement, of the elements may be changed and their mannerof operation varied in many ways for treating other articles and without'departing from the spirit and scope of our invention. It should therefore be understood that the particular embodiments of our invention herein shown and described are intended to be illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of our invention.

This application is a continuation of our 00- pending application Serial No. 683,721 filed July 15, 1946, now abandoned, entitled Article Cleaning Mechanism. e

We claim:

1. Mechanism for cleaning rounded articles comprising article supporting means, means for moving articles to be cleaned longitudinally of said mechanism and along said article supporting means,'a continuous band of flexible cleaning material having a portion thereof spaced from said supporting means a distance less than the diameter of the articles to be cleaned so asto be positioned to engage articles on said support. means for moving the article engaging portion of said flexible band longitudinally of said mechanism, and means for rotating said articles about an axis extending longitudinally of said mechanism while the articlesare engaged by said portion of the flexible band. h V V atvacoe '2. Mechanism for cleaning rounded articles comprising article supporting means, means for moving articles to be cleaned longitudinally of said mechanism and along "said article supporting means, a continuous band of flexible cleaning material having a portion thereof spaced from said supporting means a distance less than the diameter of the articles to be cleaned so as to be positioned to engage articles on said support, means for moving the article engaging portion of said flexible band in the same direction but at a higher speed than said articles, and means for rotating said articles about an axis extending longitudinally of said mechanism while the articles are engaged by said portion of the flexible band.

3. Mechanism for cleaning rounded articles comprising article supporting means, means for moving articles to be cleaned longitudinally of said mechanism and along said article supporting means, a continuous band of flexible cleaning material having a portion thereof spaced from said supporting means a distance less than the diameter of the articles to be cleaned so as to be positioned --to engage articles on said support, means for moving the article engaging portion of said flexible band in the same direction but at a higher speed than said articles, and means for oscillating said articles during their travel through said mechanism.

4. Mechanism for cleaning rounded articles comprising article supporting means defining a path of travel for articles to be cleaned, means for successively moving articles along said article supporting means, flexible article cleaning means spaced from said article supporting means a distance less than the diameter of the articles to be cleaned and extending generally parallel to the path of travel of said articles so as to be positioned to engage articles moving along said supporting means, and means for tilting the articles during their movement along said path.

5. Mechanism for cleaning rounded articles comprising article supporting means defining a path of travel for articles to be cleaned, means tor successively moving articles along said article supporting means, flexible article cleaning means spaced from said article supporting means a distance less than the diameter of the articles to be cleaned and extending generally parallel to the path of travel of said articles so as to be positioned to engage articles moving along said supporting means, means for moving said article cleaning means in the same direction but at a higher speed than the articles to be cleaned, and means for tilting the articles during their movement along said path.

6. An egg cleaning machine comprising a plurality of egg cleaning means in the form of flexible abrasive strands each having a predetermined vvidth less than one-third the longitudinal length of an egg to be cleaned, egg supporting means positioned to receive and support an egg and spaced from said abrasive means a distance less than the diameter of the eggs to be cleaned, means for moving said strands with respect to said egg supporting means, and means for oscillating said egg supporting means.

7. An egg cleaning machine of the character set forth in claim 6 wherein the strands of the egg cleaning means which engage an egg extend parallel to each other and are connected together to form a single continuous band.

8. Mechanism for cleaning eggs comprising a pair of parallel egg supporting members, means for moving eggs longitudinally of said members,

flexible egg cleaning means extending generally parallel to said members and having a portion thereof en'gagable with eggs on said supporting members, means for moving said cleaning means in the same direction but at a faster speed than said eggs, and means for moving said supporting members relative to each other to tilt said eg s.

9. Mechanism for cleaning eggs comprising a pair of parallel egg supporting members, means for moving eggs longitudinally of said members, flexible egg cleaning means extending generally parallel to said members and having a portion thereof engageable with eggs on said supporting members, means for moving said cleaning means in the same direction but at a faster speed than said eggs, and means for alternately moving said supporting members toward and away from said egg cleaning means to tilt the eggs during their passage through said -mechanism.

l0. Mechanism for cleaning eggs comprising a support over which the eggs are movable through the mechanism, flexible egg cleaning means extending longitudinally of said support and having a portion thereof engageable with eggs on said support, means for moving said portion of the cleaning means longitudinally of the mechanism, means for moving eggs 'over said support including longitudinally spaced members located between said support and cleaning means and engageable by the eggs to limit movement thereof under the action of said cleaning means, and means for moving said spaced members longi tudin'ally of the mechanism.

11. Mechanism 'for cleaning eggs comprising a pair of members positioned to support the opposite ends of eggs moving through the mechanism, fiexible egg cleaning means extending generally parallel to said supporting members and having portions thereof en'gageable with'eggs on said (supporting members, means for moving said cleaning means longitudinally of said supporting members and with respect to eggs thereon, means for moving said supporting members in opposite directions to oscillate the eggs thereon, and an egg holding member located between said supporting members and cleaning means and movable longitudinally ol said 'mechaism for controlling the speed of movement of said eggs through the mechanism.

l2. Mechanism for cleaning eggs comprising a pair of members positioned to support the op posite ends of eggs moving through the mecha nism, flexible egg cleaning meansextending "generally parallel to said supporting members and having portions thereof engageable with eggs on said supporting members, means for moving said cleaning means longitudinally of said supporting members and with respect to eggs thereon, means for moving said supporting members in opposite directions to oscillate the eggs thereon, eg holding means located between said members and said cleaning means in position to be engaged by said eggs, means for moving said egg holding means longitudinally of said mechanism, and transversely movable bearing elements on said egg holding means movable with said eggs during oscillation thereof.

13. Mechanism for cleaning eggs comprising a pair of members positioned to support the opposite ends of eggs moving through the mechanism, flexible egg cleaning means extending generally parallel to said supporting members and having portions thereof engagable with eggs on 11 said supporting members, means for moving said cleaning means longitudinally of said supporting members and with respect to eggs thereon, means for moving said supporting members in opposite directions to oscillate the eggs thereon, egg holding means located between said members and said cleaning means in position to be engaged by said eggs, means for moving said egg holding means longitudinally of said mechanism, said egg holding means presenting a substantially flat surface extending normal to said egg supporting members and engagable by the eggs during oscillation thereof.

14. Egg cleaning mechanism comprising cleaning means in the form of a single band of abrasive material arranged in a series of adjacent loops so as to provide a plurality of parallel strands of flexible material each presenting an abrasive surface for engagement by the eggs to be cleaned, the opposite ends of said band being connected together to form a continuous belt, means for moving said strands in the same direction and at the same speed, means for maintaining all of said strands under substantially the same tension, egg supporting means extending parallel to said strands and spaced therefrom a distance less than the diameter of the eggs to be cleaned, and means for moving eggs to be cleaned over said supporting means into and out of contact with the abrasive surfaces of said strands.

15. Egg cleaning mechanism comprising cleaning means in the form of a plurality of parallel strands of flexible material each presenting an abrasive surface for engagement by the eggs to be cleaned, means for moving said strands in the same direction and at the same speed, egg supporting means extending parallel to said strands and spaced therefrom a distance less than the diameter of the eggs to be cleaned, means for moving eggs to be cleaned over said supporting means into and out of contact with the abrasive surfaces of said strands, and means for oscillating the eggs while in contact with said strands and supporting means.

16. Mechanism for cleaning rounded articles comprising an article support, flexible abrasive means, means for moving said abrasive means with respect to said article support, said abrasive means and article support being located in substantially parallel planes and spaced apart a distance less than the diameter of the articles to be cleaned, and means for positively moving articles along said support through the space between the support and abrasive means whereby the abrasive means serve to hold the articles in contact with said support during movement of the articles to be cleaned.

17. An egg cleaning device comprising egg supporting means extending longitudinally of the device, means for moving eggs longitudinally of the device in engagement with said egg supporting means, cleaning elements located adjacent said egg supporting means in position to engage eggs located on the upper surface of said egg supporting means, means for moving said cleaning elements with reference to said egg supporting means, and means for oscillating said egg supporting means during the travel of eggs longitudinally of said device.

18. Egg cleaning mechanism comprising egg supporting means extending longitudinally of the mechanism, means for directing eggs to be cleaned onto the upper surface of said supporting means near one end thereof, means for. moving eggs longitudinally of said mechanism on the upper surface of said supporting means, means located near the other end of said egg supporting means for receiving cleaned eggs therefrom, egg cleaning means located between said egg directing means and said egg receiving means and including a plurality of flexible abrasive elements arranged to engage eggs located on said egg supporting means, means for moving said abrasive elements with reference to said egg supporting means and any eggs thereon, and means for moving said egg supporting means to tilt eggs thereon during the travel of eggs from said egg directing means to said egg receiving means.

OTTO C. NIEDERER. OTTO NIEDERER. HERBERT O. NIEDERER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

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